show business is a small world

 

Ned Beatty, Tom Hanks in Charlie Wilson's War

Ned Beatty (1937 - 2021), in his role as Doc Long in Charlie Wilson's War, has such an energy.  As a character actor, you forget the movies he's in, because he isn't Ned Beatty, he is the character.

     "Tell him, Mr. Poppadoppalus!  Tell him what we saw here today!"  In the scene referenced here in yesterday's post, he's so real in his sincerity, and his flaws.  Julia Roberts is also masterful in that scene -- intense, and perfect -- and there's another actress, Nancy Linehan Charles, who portrays Senator Long's wife.  She puts across an unforgettable gentleness, love, and stalwartness.  Really good.

In All The President's Men, Beatty plays Martin Dardis, Dade County, Florida, chief investigator.  (And his secretary, who tries to keep Dustin Hoffman (Carl Bernstein) from getting to see him, is played by Polly Holliday -- who was a waitress in the situation comedy "Alice," in the '70s.)

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